Las Lajas Sanctuary is one of the most extraordinary buildings in South America. A Neo-Gothic church built between 1916 and 1949, it spans a bridge across the Guáitara River gorge at a height of 50 metres, in a setting so improbable that photographs of it consistently fail to look real. The canyon walls rise on both sides, and the church occupies the space between them, its towers and buttresses growing out of the rock as though the building and the gorge were designed for each other.
The origin of the sanctuary is a vision: local tradition holds that in the 18th century, a deaf-mute girl from Ipiales claimed to have seen an image of the Virgin Mary on the rock face above the river. An image was eventually found — pigmentation deep in the stone that formed a figure identifiable to the faithful as the Virgin. The current church was built around this image, which is now the high altar. The original chapel on the site was replaced by the current Neo-Gothic structure in the early 20th century.
The sanctuary is an active place of pilgrimage. Thousands of votive tablets lining the walls record miracles attributed to the Virgin of Las Lajas, the prayers and gratitude of pilgrims from across Colombia and Ecuador. The approach involves descending into the gorge on a path cut into the canyon wall; the full descent and return take about 30 to 45 minutes on foot, and the views along the way are exceptional.
Las Lajas is seven kilometres from Ipiales town centre. Taxis and minibuses run regularly from the main square.